Electric-current-shunting device.



No. 651,697. Patented lune l2,I900. E. R. CLIFF.

ELECTRIC CURRENT SHUNTING DEVICE.

(Application filed Jan. 4 1900.)

lllli H r I W iil m m WITNESSES: INVENTOR WZ/JM No. 65I,697, Patented lune I2, I900. E. n. CLIFF.

ELECTRIC CURRENT SHUNTING DEVICE.

(Application filed Jan. 4,1900.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets$heet 2.

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4+ 68 H Q Q WW2 WITNESSES: INVENTOR WW7 ATTRNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT Curios.

EDWVARD R. CLIFF, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FREDERICK lV. l/VISE, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRlC-CURRENT-SHUNTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651,697, dated June 12, 1900.

Application filed January 4,1900. Serial No. 363. N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, EDWARD R. CLIFF, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, (New Brighton,) in the county of Richmond and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Current Shunting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of devices which are employed in connection with are or incandescent lam ps,or both, when arranged in series for lighting or signal purposes to shunt or short-circuit the current across the terminals or leads of a lamp or across from the outgoing to the incoming conductor when in the one case the lamp is burned out or in any way becomes broken or destroyed or in the other case the conductor becomes broken beyond the shunting device, its object being to provide a device of this character which, while simple in construction and efficient in operation, shall permit of the employment of a resistance in connection therewith, when desired, to compensate for the resistance of the lamp or lamps withdrawn from operation and at the same time serve to shunt or short-circuit the current across the terminals or leads of the same when such resistance becomes destroyed or otherwise impaired.

To this end theinvention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and arrangement of parts whereby these results are accomplished, all as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cnrrent'shunting device constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation of a currentshunting device of a slightly-modified con struction; Fig. 3, a plan view thereof; Fig. 4, a longitudinal sectional elevation of my device, taken in the plane a; at of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a diagrammatic view showing the shunting device employed in multiple with are electric lamps arranged in series; Fig. 6, a similar diagrammatic view showing the device employed in multiple with incandescent lamps arranged in series 5 and Fig. 7, a like diagrammatic view showing the device arranged in a circuit of incandescent electric lamps and extending across from the outgoing to the incoming conductor,with the lamps disposed in series.

In all the figures like letters of reference are employed to designate corresponding parts.

A indicates the standards or supports in and upon which the various parts of the shunting devices are or may be mounted and operated. These standards or supports are preferably constructed of electricity-non-conducting materialsuch, for instance, as fiber, hard rubber, or the like--and are secured together and held at the proper distance apart by any appropriate means. The means which I prefer to employ for this purpose, however, consists of two rods or bars a, which, extending across from one of such standards or supports to the other, are firmly secured at their ends therein by suitable screw-threads and collars, with which their respective ends are provided, and nuts a for cooperating therewith, as shown.

Located between the standards or supports A is a contact B, which through appropriate electric connections is connected with a means of which a conductor or lead may be connected therewith. This contact may be constructed in various forms. I prefer, however, to construct it in the form of a rod or bar from any appropriate conducting material and of a length to extend across from one of the standards orsupports to the other,with a suitable threaded orifice formed in each of its ends, axially of the same, whereby it may be secured in place by screws 7), passed through suitable holes formed in the upper edges of the standards or supports and engaging therewith. By this arrangement the bar or rod, in addition to serving as an electric contact, also serves as an aid to the rods or bars 0'. in securing the standards or supports together and holding them at the proper distance apart. For connecting this contact B with the binding-post or terminal b any convenient form of electric connection may be employed. In the form, however, selected by me for the purpose of illustration it consists of a metal conducting strip b which,

preferably secured to the outer side of one of the standards or supports A and carrying at its lower end the binding-post or other connecting appliances, is electrically connected with the coni act B through one of the screws b, which passes through the strip and engages therewith. As thus disposed the contact is adapted to support astrip of paper bflwhich i in practice rests thereon and which may be held in that position by any approved means. I

I prefer, however, to employ for that purpose the spools or rollers 11 and 1), upon which its ends are respectively wound and which are journaled in bearings a and a formed in the I standards or supports A, as shown. By this arrangement of parts the employment of a ribbon of paper is permitted, which may be uncoiled from one and coiled upon the other, 7 as the exigencies of its use may require, and

moving them, with the strip, from the device.

Cooperating with the contact B isa second contact 0, which is adapted to bear upon the This contact may upper side of the strip 19 be constructed in various forms. As here shown, however, it is constructed in the form of a rod which is pivoted between the standards or supports A by a shaft or rod 0, that is journaled at its ends in suitable bearings c in the standards or supports A and is pro vided with a binding-post c or other clampin g device that is adapted to receive and hold the extremity of an electric conductor. The

contact 0 being thus disposed extends forward over the contact B and rests upon the strip of paper through its own gravity,which may be increased, if desired, by the employment of a suitable weight 0 that may be fixedly or adjustably secured thereon. While thus bearing normally upon the upper surface of the strip of paper If, this contact may be swung upward into a vertical position, when desired, to permit of the removal of such strip with its carrying spools or rollers, as shown in Fig. 3.

WVith the parts constructed and arranged as above explained the device may be employed either wit-11 an arc-lamp A or an inj candescent lamp A as respectively shown in Figs. 5 and (5, or with a series of such lamps A as shown in Fig. 7, in which in the one case one of the leads, as c", of the lamp will be connected with the binding-post 0 through a suitable connection, as c, and the other, 0 to the binding-post I) through suitable connections, as 0", while in the other case these 1 posts will be respectively connected with the structed in various forms.

outgoing and incoming conductors A and A of the series through appropriate connections a and c", which respectively extend between them. As thus disposed the current passing along the leads will traverse the lamp in the one case and the series of lamps in the other so long as the lamp in the one case remains intact and operative and the conductor in the other remains unbroken, in consequence of the resistance afforded to the passage of the current through the shunting device by the paper strip 12 The moment, however, that such lamp becomes broken or otherwise inoperative from any cause or either of the conductors in the series becomes broken beyond the device then the burning or perforation of the strip of paper is occasioned by the current, which is then allowed to pass through the shunting device, and the same thereby shunted across the leads of the lamp or across from one conductor to the other, as the case may be.

In some instances the shunting device will be employed without any other resistance than that afforded by the strip of paper b which will then be adapted to the position in which it is to be employed, and in these cases the connection of the contact ll with'the binding or terminal post I) will preferably be through the conducting-strip W, as shown in Fig. 1. In other instances it will be found desirable to employ a further resistance to compensate for that of the lamp or lamps withdrawn from operation, and in such cases I make use of further resistance devices, which may be constructed in anyapproved formas, for instance, in that 'of a coil, a lamp, or the like. When made in the form of a coil, as D, I preferably support it upon a bracket (1, which is secured to the outer side of one of the standards or supports A, with one end of the coil connected with the contact B, through one of the screws 1') or otherwise, and its other end connected with the binding-post b. By this arrangement any current passing through the shunting device will be caused to traverse this resisting-coil, which in practice will preferably be made of the same or approximately the same resistance as that of the lamp or lamps in connection with which it may be employed. \Vith the resistance thus availed of I sometimes find it convenient to employ means whereby the current may be shunted across the leads to and from the same when the resistance is destroyed or otherwise withdrawn from action. To this end I-m ake use of a third contact E, which, as with the contact 0, may be con- As shown herein, however, it is constructed in the form of a rod that is arranged to extend over and bear upon the upper side of the strip of paper 11 at the side of the contact 0 and is preferably secured to or formed integrally witha shaft or rod c, which, journaled in suitable bearings e, that are formed in the upper corner of the standards or supports A, opposite to that in which the bearings c are formed, is provided with a binding-post or terminal e The contact E, being thus pivotally mounted in the standards or supports A, while normally resting upon the strip 11 may be swung upward into the position shown in Fig. 3 to permit of the removal of such strip, with its carrying-rollers, when required, and in order to insure of its pressing thereon with the proper degree of pressure it is or may be provided at its free end with a weight a that is adjustably or fixedly secured thereto, as is the case with the weight 0 As thus disposed the bindingpost or terminal a is connected with the terminal h by a conductor F, which extends from the one to the other, whereby any current a passing along the contact E will be transmitted thereto and thence to and along the c011- ductor or lead 0 When the parts thus specified are employed and the resistance is destroyed or rendered inoperative during the operation of the shunting device or otherwise, the current passing along the contact 0 from the binding-post or terminal a to the contact B, through the perforation in the paper strip 5 instead of traversing such resistance to the binding-post b and thence travelingalong the lead or conductor a", will pass along the contact B to a point beneath the contact E, where it will burn or otherwise perforate a hole through the paper strip b and thence travel along such conductor to the bindingpost or terminal 6 thence along the conductor or lead F to the terminal or binding post I), and thence to and along the lead or conductor 0 thereby shunting the current across the leads or terminals of the resistance and establishing a circuit across from the terminal or binding-post o to the terminal or binding-post I) through the contacts 0 B E and conductor F and insuring of the opera tion of the other lamps in the series, as before.

When the shunting device is employed in multiple with lamps in a series and any of these lamps become broken or otherwise inoperative, the current will be shunted across the terminals of these inoperative lamps and the other lamps in the'series allowed to operate and glow in precisely the same manner as when such inoperative lamps were operative. On the other hand, when a single shunting device is employed in a series of lamps and extends across from the outgoing to the incoming cond uctor then when one of these conductors becomes broken beyond the shunting device the current will be shunted across from one conductor to the other, thereby cutting out all lamps beyond its location and allowing all the lamps included within its circuit to continue in operation and glow as they did before the rupture of the conductor.

From the foregoing it will therefore be seen that I produce a shunting device which is capable of application in connection with the individual lamps of a series or with a number of the lamps of a series, whereby not only the shunting of the current across the terminals of the individual lamps in the one case and across from one conductor to the other of the series in the other may be effected when any of such lamps or one of the conductors becomes broken, but the use of an appropriate compensating resistance in the circuit and the automatic shunting of the current across the terminals ofthe same when it becomes broken permitted.

Although in the above I have described the best means contemplated by me for carrying myinven tion into practice, I wish it distinctly understood that I do not limit myself strictly thereto, as it is obvious that I may modify the same in various ways without departing from the spirit of my inventionas, for instance, instead of constructing the standards or sup ports of the device from non-conducting ma terial I may, if I so desire, construct them of conducting material and insulate the various operating parts of such device therefrom.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. The combination, with the standards or supports A, each of which is provided with open bearings a and a a strip of non-c011- ducting material, spools or rollers 12 and 11 respectively mounted in said bearings for carrying this strip of non-conducting material, and a contact supported from the standards or supports for contact with one side of such non-conducting strip, of a second contact pivoted to the standards or supports and adapted to be swung into contact with the opposite side of the non-conducting strip to cooperate with the first-mentioned contact, or upward therefrom to permit of the removal of the non conducting strip with its supporting spools or rollers, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the standards or supports A, a strip of paper 19 the contact B fixedly secured therein and adapted to bear upon the under surface of such strip of paper, a second contact 0 pivoted between such standards or supports and arranged to bear upon the upper surface thereof, a bindingpost or terminal for each of the contacts, and a resistance-coil D connected at one end with the fixed contact B and at the other with the binding-post or terminal for that contact, of athird contact E likewise pivoted between the standards or supports A and bearing upon the upper surface of the strip of paper opposite the contact B, and electrical connections between this contact E and the binding-post or terminal for the contact 13, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the standards or supports A provided with the open bearings a and a the strip of paper b the spools or rollers b and b respectivelymounted in such bearings for supporting this strip of paper, andthe fixed contact B upon which such strip In Witness whereof have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of December, 1899.

EDWARD R. CLIFF.

WVitnesses:

WM. H. APPLETON, R. F. SWEENY. 

